Lafayette has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
Employers in Lafayette report 675 jobs, and 2,754 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Lafayette is better than 74% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (C−). Household incomes here are higher than in 78% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Lafayette: the gist
Lafayette and Eau Claire trade workers both ways
Eau Claire is the top workplace for Lafayette residents (28%) and also where the most people who work in Lafayette come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Lafayette workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 22 across Wisconsin. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Lafayette
61% of Lafayette residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 39% of the jobs based in Lafayette pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 97% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Lafayette is a place people come home to
There are 675 jobs based in Lafayette, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Lafayette has about 4,400 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Many jobs in Lafayette pay little
28% of the jobs based in Lafayette pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 32% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The four measures behind Lafayette’s grade
The poverty rate holds Lafayette’s grade up (2.7%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (4.9%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lafayette could be anywhere from B− to A.
28% of working residents work in Eau Claire
Where Lafayette clocks in
23% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The daily trip from Lafayette: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lafayette workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,012 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across Wisconsin: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Jobs in Lafayette: what the 675 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lafayette, 2013 → 2023: 529 → 675. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lafayette’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Lafayette, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 2,666 residents head out to work, 88 work right here, and 587 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,400 people are in Lafayette on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How far Lafayette goes to work
About 16% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most of Lafayette commutes by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,516 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.0% of Lafayette households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lafayette’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lafayette next to U.S. towns of 4,500 to 8,700: 1,014th of 3,306 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Fox Point WI | 6,583 | $141K | 2.5% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Elm Grove WI | 6,354 | $158K | 4.4% | 0.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Waukesha WI | 8,507 | $131K | 3.0% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,012 | Henniker NH | 6,256 | $95K | 11.6% | 1.2% | 16% | B+ |
| 1,013 | Green Hill TN | 6,866 | $92K | 5.2% | 6.0% | <1% | B+ |
| 1,014 | Lafayette WI | 6,430 | $102K | 2.7% | 4.9% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,015 | Winona Lake IN | 5,126 | $82K | 8.0% | 1.4% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,016 | Utica MI | 5,114 | $59K | 7.5% | 2.2% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,306 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Lafayette, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
Lafayette and its neighbors: 28% work next door
The biggest share goes to Chippewa Falls (23%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lafayette workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lafayette | – | B+ | C− | 29 min | $101,651 |
| Anson | under 1% | A− | C+ | 20 min | $83,333 |
| Eagle Point | under 1% | A | C− | 22 min | $110,654 |
| Sigel | under 1% | C | C− | 29 min | $82,292 |
| Chippewa Falls | 23% | C+ | B+ | 19 min | $57,873 |
| Seymour | under 1% | A | C | 19 min | $107,436 |
| Hallie | under 1% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Lake Hallie | 5% | B+ | B− | 19 min | $86,740 |
Same-state neighbors only. Hallie: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lafayette’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Lafayette: questions
What is the median household income in Lafayette?
$101,651 (±$13,110) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lafayette?
2.7%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lafayette?
29 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lafayette work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Eau Claire (28%, 12 mi), Chippewa Falls (23%, 5 mi), Lake Hallie (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lafayette walkable?
Lafayette is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lafayette without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lafayette, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lafayette
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.